Andoni Iraola says he will tell his players to come down in future after Liverpool were denied a penalty in Sunday’s loss to Arsenal.
With Liverpool trailing 1-0 after Kai Havertz’s opener, Alexander Isak’s shirt was pulled off by Jurrien Timber in the first half as he went for a header from a Bradley Barcola cross.
However, the Liverpool striker remained standing and referee Andy Madley did not indicate the point.
Stuart Attwell, on video assistant referee (VAR) duty, determined there was not enough content in the tug for the decision to be overturned, but Iraola disagreed.
“There is a clear grip on the jersey,” the Spaniard told Match of the Day. “Alex (Isak) was right in front of him, he was going to go towards the goal but he couldn’t because he grabbed the jersey.
“If he goes to the ground, they call the penalty 100%. It should be like that but that’s how it is. Next time the managers should tell Alex to go to the ground, otherwise they won’t call it.”
Regarding the upcoming response, Iraola added: “The answer is you have to dive, if you don’t dive they won’t call you.”
Isak turned around and spoke to Timber after the incident, but did not appeal to the referee after remaining standing.
Iraola told Sky Sports that in future managers should tell their players to go to the ground.
As for whether he will tell Isak that in the future, he added: “Yes, definitely.”
He explained in his press conference when asked by BBC Sport if he should tell his players to be smarter in the future.
“It’s unfortunate that you ask me that question, but honestly, yeah, we have to tell them, go down, because they won’t say it any other way. And then the refs complain about why they go down. Because if you don’t go down, you don’t say it. So it’s like, no, you go down all the time,” Iraola said.
“But I think Alex is honest. He’s trying to get the ball, everyone can see live that there’s a clear, clear pull.”
It is understood that because there was minimal contact and it was a light tug on the shirt, rather than a sustained attack, play was able to continue.
Iraola admitted in his press conference that “it wouldn’t change anything” if Pro Ref, the Premier League’s refereeing body, apologized for the incident.
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport: “Timber is taking a huge risk by grabbing the shirt. It could easily have been given another day.
“It’s just on the edge. It has to be upheld – some will say it was upheld, others will say it wasn’t. But it’s interesting that Isak didn’t even appeal.”
Liverpool also saw another penalty appeal turned down when Cody Gakpo went down in the box under pressure from Christos Tzolis.
Gn sports
